Coming Up: Jan 29th meeting, Jan 30th committees

Our next Council meeting is this Monday.

Following is what we are discussing this week. As always, any mistakes or opinions belong to me alone, not to Council or City staff. You can click here to access agendas and supporting material.

Development Decision Timelines

Administration has proposed a few minor tweaks to the sections of our Land Use Bylaw which outline how decisions are reached regarding development permits. These changes will bring us into conformance with recently updated Municipal Government Act requirements. I currently plan to vote in favour of these amendments.

Park Improvement Grants

It is recommended that we award approximately $27,000 worth of Park Improvement Grant funding. This money is already budgeted so would carry no increased tax implications to residents. There are six grants being considered, five to Neighborhood Associations and one to a School Playground Committee. One grant is for $13,514 towards the installation of an LED light and pole for an outdoor rink in Royal Oaks. The other grants are all for $2000-$2500. You can find full details about them by clicking here.

I currently plan to vote in favour of these recommendations. However, one observation I made at the committee level is that our Parks Improvement Grant seems to have very large overlap with our Community Enhancement Grant. In fact, some of the projects being considered already received funding under the other program. I support continuing the full funding we channel through both programs. However, I think we need to consider combining them to increase transparency and decrease administrative work.

Extended Producer Responsability

The City of Calgary is hoping that the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association will pass a resolution to lobby the provincial government to enact Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation. It is recommended that we authorize Mayor Given to send a letter expressing our support.

EPR legislation would require or incentivize manufacturers to make more durable, reusable, and recyclable materials. This has obvious environmental benefits. It would also financially benefit municipalities as it would divert products from our landfill. This legislation would shift some financial responsibility away from municipalities and taxpayers to producers and consumers.

In 2009, all provinces including Alberta committed to work towards EPR frameworks. To date, every province except Alberta has implemented legislation.

I currently plan to vote in favour of sending a letter of support.

Alberta Bilingual Municipalities Association

We will be discussing a letter from the Alberta Bilingual Municipalities Association to learn more about joining it. I am always intrigued by collaboration opportunities, but I have no idea what costs are associated with this organisation. I look forward to learning more.

It is a relatively light Council meeting this week. However, there are some interesting committee agendas for Tuesday. On Sunday or Monday I intend to make an extra post setting up those discussions.